Indulge in the ultimate safari

Botswana Holidays

With almost 40% of its land area devoted to national parks and reserves, Botswana is one of Africa’s greatest safari destinations. The Okavango Delta is likely to be top of your tick list. An extraordinarily beautiful wetland mosaic, it’s not only teeming with wildlife but is also home to sumptuous safari camps. Chobe National Park is another vast wilderness area. Like the Okavango, it’s brimming with wildlife spectacles.

Our holidays in Botswana include a range of options, from fabulous safaris combining Victoria Falls with the Okavango and Chobe to wider-ranging trips linking Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. These exciting itineraries often feature travel in small chartered aircraft, flying from lodge to lodge.

About Botswana

OKAVANGO DELTA

Reaching like a green-fingered hand into the Kalahari, the Okavango is a unique inland delta, nourished by the seasonal ebb and flow of floodwaters from Angola. A watery wilderness of floodplains, papyrus swamps, river channels and wooded islets, it supports a staggering array of wildlife – from jewel-like frogs crouching motionless on reed stems to great herds of elephant sloshing through tea-coloured shallows. Delta specialists like the splayed-hoof lechwe thrive here, along with wild dog, buffalo, lion, leopard, zebra and over 400 species of birds. This is more than the ‘Jewel of the Kalahari’ – it’s one of the brightest wildlife gems in the whole of Africa. Superb camps and lodges are located in both Moremi Game Reserve and a patchwork of private concessions. Activities range from mokoro dugout canoe rides to game drives and walking safaris.

CHOBE NATIONAL PARK

Packed with pachyderms, Chobe is classic big-game country. Not only is it home to Africa’s largest surviving elephant population (an estimated 50,000 during the dry season), but the legendary trio of the Chobe Waterfront, Linyanti Marshes and Savuti is a magnet to large herds of zebra and buffalo – something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by lion, leopard, cheetah and hyena, all of which are found in high densities. Easily accessible from Livingstone or Kasane, Chobe has a variety of camps and lodges, offering game drives and boat trips.

KALAHARI SALTPANS

The sun-cracked remains of a vast prehistoric lake, the Makgadikgadi and Nxai pans (easily reached by light aircraft or vehicle from Maun) offer a stark, bewitching contrast to Chobe and the Okavango. Not that they are devoid of life – from December to May, seasonal rains attract 30,000 breeding flamingo and migratory herds of zebra and wildebeest. But even at its driest and most barren, this is a surreal wilderness where simple wonders, like total silence, the curve of the earth and glittering night skies will hold you rapt.